The long awaited collaboration between Facebook and Ray-Ban finally came to fruition. Ray-Ban Stories is a pair of Wayfarer smart sunglasses that allow you to take calls, snap photos and videos and listen to your music through touch and voice controls. Contrary to other smart glasses attempts, the smart features finally look to be integrated in a subtle and accessible manner.
Why do I need this?
Smart tech hasn’t really taken over our glasses yet. Yet, it’s becoming a convenient way to have your hands free and not hunch over a device, being unaware of your surroundings. We’ve seen the failed Google Glasses and more recently Snapchat’s Spectacles, which only found a niche audience.
Now, Facebook collaborated with Ray-Ban to pack smart features in one of the most iconic sunglass models on earth.
The Ray-Ban Stories contains a dual lens 5MP camera (barely as good as your phone’s camera), allowing you to shoot photos and videos from a first person perspective.
There’s a touch sensor on the side of the glasses, allowing you to pause your song, take a photo or record a video with a single touch. Onboard memory allows you to store about 500 photos, or 30 (30s) videos.
For audio, the Stories contains 3 internal microphone and an open-ear speaker, allowing you to hear calls and music clearly, without disturbing your surroundings.
Finally, the glasses contain Wifi and Bluetooth, allowing them to be paired with the Facebook View app for configuration of your smart glasses and sharing of the content you’ve created.
Features
- Dual 5MP camera
- Touch control
- Open-ear speakers
- 3 microphones
- Wifi
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Rechargeable battery (charging case)
All in all, this a nice next step in incorporating smart tech inside sunglasses. The Stories’ features being really subtle might spark some privacy concerns (as well as Facebook being attached to its development), but for people looking for a pair of glasses to take over common smartphone tasks, this is a great package for an affordable price.
Where can I buy a Ray-Ban Stories?
The new Facebook Ray-Ban glasses can be purchased on the official Ray-Ban shop via the link below.
Additionally, these smart glasses will also become available with most retailers that stock Ray-Ban glasses, including Sunglass Hut.
